Nautanki Saala!

Not too long ago Sonali
Bendre said she is not vying for lead roles since quite often the
most interesting part is of somebody else in the film. While I sense
Sonali might have said that simply because she is no longer offered
lead roles, there is some truth to her statement and Nautanki Saala
is a clear proof of the same theory. After winning accolades and
hearts as Vicky Donor, Ayushman Khuranna was one of the most watched
out for newcomers. Sadly his second big screen venture did not really
go according to plan at the box office. And you can´t really blame
the audience. People do not buy tickets to the bored.

A successful theater actor
and director RP saves an unknown young man from commiting suicide by
hanging, and to prevent him from trying again he takes him home,
thinking everything will be fine by morning. However Mandar – the
saved one – not only has no interest to move on from the tragedy
that struck him (girlfriend challi gayi. Blah. And here I was rooting
for something really depressing), but it also turns out he has
nowhere to go, nothing to do and basically actually is as useless as
he claims to be. RP is determined to help, much to the protests of
his girlfriend, who, unlike him, can see Mandar for what he really is
– a whiny baby, selfish and absorbed in self-loving. RP gets him a
job in the theater (and as a lead actor in his own play – talk
about confidence) and lets him live in his own flat. After a while
even he is tired of Mandar, who is failing in every single department
of life, and decides to put him and Nandini, the girl behind the
suicide, back together. But dil to paagal hai and RP falls for the
girl himself....

It all starts on a rather
promising note. The first twenty or so minutes I found genuinely
funny, but after it starts slowing down more and more and more.... so
after what feels like an eternity, during which your head keeps
dropping and eyes keep closing, you FINALLY reach a climax, that just
happens, no explanations needed apparently. The greatest flaw (if you
have not noticed from my complaining already) is the snail speed,
which result in excrutiatingly boring wait for things to move on.
Considering the running time is only 2 hours, this is just
unforgivable. While it was really funny in bits, the boredom
ultimately overpowers all.

Ayushman was my favourite
new comer last year, but Nautanki does nothing to support my liking
for him. He doesn´t really have that much of a role when I think
about it, does not go through any development as a character. As I
have mentioned above, he is a lead, but everybody else is more
interesting. Kunal Roy Kapoor looked extremely ...... dirty and
sleazy. And Abhishek Bachchan´s appearance is one of the most
lukewarm cameos ever. Even the music is average - with the exception
of So Gaya Yeh Jahan and Dhak Dhak, which are both just copies, and
now even incorporated in the film. Waste of time, really.